Policy Glossary

Academic advisor: A student’s assigned staff or faculty member who helps and advises students on academic matters, including planning their academic career and selecting classes.
Academic Clemency: The ability of returning students to expunge prior unsatisfactory academic performance (D-F grades only) from their transcript. Academic Clemency may only be approved one (1) time per student.
Academic credit: The certification of a student’s successful completion of a unit of a course of study. Academic credit does not include credit associated with developmental education.
Access information: A username, a password, log-in information, an account name, or any other security information that protects access to a personal electronic account.
Add/Drop period: The time period designated as the 100% refund period.
Administrative Withdrawal: Action taken by the College resulting in the withdrawal of a student from a course, courses, and/or College.
Admission: Formal acceptance that permits an individual to enroll in approved College courses or programs.
Affinity group: An employee’s constituency group based on their category of employment. The College has three affinity groups: the Administrative Staff Association (ASA), the Faculty Association (FA), and the Support Staff Association (SSA).
Appeal: A formal request by a student to review a decision made regarding their conduct, seeking reconsideration or a reversal of the decision based on specified grounds.
Applicant: An individual who has an assigned FCC student identification number and who has submitted a College application for credit enrollment.
Assent: A child’s affirmative agreement to participate in research.
Assignment Grade: The grade assigned by the instructor for a specific task or activity completed in the course.
ATODA: Alcohol, tobacco, opioid, and other drug awareness.
Budgeted Cash Operating Expenses: The total annual budgeted expenses of the operating fund, less non-cash expenses such as depreciation, amortization, and compensated absences.
Calendar days: Sunday through Saturday of each week excluding days on which the College is officially closed.
Cameron Carden Act of 2024: Mandates that all public universities in Maryland provide formal withdrawal policies that include mental health as a valid reason for student withdrawal. The Act ensures that students who withdraw due to mental or physical health issues receive a refund for the remainder of the term, aiming to protect students' well-being and support their academic success.
CCTV: Closed circuit (non-broadcast) television video monitoring system utilizing an array of cameras and data recording servers.
Census Date: The point in time at which twenty percent of the length of a course or session have elapsed.
Children: Persons under the age of 18.
Certificate: An undergraduate program of study requiring a minimum of twelve (12) credits in a prescribed curriculum approved by the College. Courses required in certificate programs may be applied to the degree program in that area of study.
College closing: The closing of all buildings and offices, cancellation of all in person classes (credit and non-credit), and the cancellation of all in person scheduled non-academic activities and events at both the main campus (including the Carl and Norma Miller Children’s Center) and the Monroe Center (unless otherwise noted in the closing announcement). All virtual classes shall proceed whenever possible during inclement weather closings or delays.
College community: Trustees, students, and all employees of the College as well as any independent contractors or other third parties to the extent articulated under contractual agreements.
College Co-Sponsored Events: Events where Frederick Community College and/or the Frederick Community College Foundation, Inc. partners with outside groups or organizations. All College co-sponsored events must be approved by the President’s Council. Co-sponsorship approval is based upon whether the event is deemed to be beneficial for the College to co-sponsor the event.
College premises: Buildings or grounds owned, leased, operated, controlled, supervised, or temporarily used by the College.
College resources: College premises, property, IT resources, personnel, branding, or funding.
College social media account: Accounts on any social media site specifically made to promote the College, or any related organizations, programs, departments, or activities. This policy does not apply to personal social media accounts used by College employees.
College-sponsored activities: Any activity that is initiated, authorized, or supervised by the College, or that involves representation of the College.
Completion Rate: The percentage of credits (college-level and developmental) completed each semester divided by the number of credits attempted each semester, including summer session.
Controlled substances: Drugs that have some potential for dependence. These drugs are regulated by local, state, and federal laws.
Course: A unit of study identified in the College catalog that is defined by a specific title, course number, and description, and for which credit may or may not be awarded.
Creative Commons licensing: Licensing that enables creators of copyrighted work to grant permission to others to retain (make and own a copy), reuse (use in a wide range of ways), revise (adapt, modify, and improve), remix (combine two or more), and redistribute (share with others).
Creator: The Creator is the individual who originates a creative work or invention. Depending on the circumstances, the Creator may hold on to the intellectual property rights of the creative work or invention, or the rights may be transferred to the College.
Credit Hour: A unit of measure applied toward the total number of hours needed for completing the requirements of a degree, certificate, or other formal award, which represents: 1. A minimum of 15 hours (50 minutes each) of lecture, seminar, or discussion class time; 2. A minimum of 30 hours (50 minutes each) of supervised laboratory or studio time; 3. A minimum of 45 hours (50 minutes each) of instructional situations such as practica, internships, and cooperative educational placements; 4. A minimum of 37.5 hours of instruction per credit delivered online or by other electronic media. This may include a combination of virtual sessions, classroom instruction, student consultation with instructors, and readings, when supervision is ensured and learning is documented.
Current Student/Student: An individual who is registered at the College, either full or part-time, in a credit or continuing education class or classes who has either paid or made arrangement for payment of tuition and/or fees.
Deferred Payment Plan: An agreement between a student and a third-party vendor which allows for the payment of tuition and fees to be made in monthly installments.
Designated Personnel: College employees authorized to view and maintain the video monitoring system or having approved access to view selected cameras and/or access to view recorded data.
Digital Badge: A visual representation of a skill, learning achievement, competency, or experience. Badges can be relevant to an academic objective, professional goal, area of interest, or national credential. Embedded in each badge is information about when and where the badge was earned, criteria for earning the badge, and verification that the earner met all requirements.
Drop: An action taken to remove a student from a class within the drop/add period. Classes dropped will not appear on the student’s transcript, will not impact a student’s academic standing, and no tuition and fees will be assessed. Drops within this period may impact financial aid.
Drop for Non-payment: Specific dates throughout the credit registration cycle when students are dropped for non-payment of tuition and fees. Students must have paid tuition and fees in full, have enough financial aid to cover tuition/fees, or be enrolled in the deferred payment plan to avoid the drop zone.
Drug: Any chemical, whether synthetic or natural, that affects the human body or mind when it is swallowed, inhaled, injected, or consumed in any other way.
Education record: Any record maintained by the College or by a party acting for the College that is directly related to a student or students. Education records are subject to the provisions of FERPA. This record may contain a student’s name or information from which a student, or students, can be personally identified. These records include: files, documents, and materials in whatever medium (handwritten, print, electronic), which contain information directly related to the student. Education records include records of work-study students. Education records do not include the following: 1. Records that are kept in sole possession of the maker, are used only as a personal memory aid, and are not accessible or revealed to any other person; 2. Records relating to an individual who is employed by the College, made and maintained in the normal course of business, related exclusively to the individual in the capacity as an employee, and are not available for use for any other purpose; 3. Records on a student who is 18 years of age or older, or attending an institution of postsecondary education, regardless of age that are: made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other medical provider; made, maintained, or used only in connection with the treatment of the student; and disclosed only to individuals providing the treatment. For this definition, “treatment” does not include remedial educational activities or activities that are part of the program of instruction at FCC.
Emergency conditions: Conditions that, in the determination of the President and Chief of Operations, may put the College community at risk.
Essential personnel: Those employees designated in their job description or by the President as essential to the operation of the College during an identified period of time.
Exigent circumstances: Emergency situations that require law enforcement to act immediately to address a threat to public safety, without pausing to obtain the prior approval from a judge. Exigent circumstances include the following: imminent risk of death, violence, or harm to a person or property; hot pursuit of a dangerous suspect; and the imminent risk of the destruction of evidence of a crime.
Expressive Activity: Verbal or nonverbal expression protected by the First Amendment and includes, but is not limited to, meetings, speeches, performances, demonstrations, rallies, vigils, events, distribution of literature, group activities, displaying posters/signs, and any other expression protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Expulsion: The permanent separation of a student from the College, resulting in loss of enrollment and access to College programs, activities, and facilities, except as otherwise authorized. Expulsion is imposed in accordance with College policy and applicable due-process requirements.
External User: A group or individual who is NOT: a currently registered student, a registered student group/organization, or a staff/faculty member acting within the scope of their employment, or an FCC faculty/staff organization.
Fair Use: The right to use copyrighted materials without consent of the copyright owner, usually for scholarship, teaching, research, or criticism, as stipulated by Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): A federal law protecting the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools receiving funds under any applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA applies to all education records of any student. FERPA gives certain rights to parents with respect to their student’s educational records. Those rights transfer to the eligible student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution at any age.
FCC Property: All buildings, grounds, and other spaces owned or controlled by FCC.
Final Class Grade: The final grade assigned by the instructor and entered on the student’s transcript.
Financial Obligation: Outstanding charges owed to the College.
Financial Service: Includes student loans, payment plans, financial aid processing, debt collection, and leasing agreements.
Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA): A Federal law (primarily the Privacy Rule [16 CFR 313] and the Safeguards Rule [16 CFR 314]) requiring all financial institutions to develop, implement, and maintain safeguards to protect customer information.
Grant access: Providing log-in information needed to gain access to a personal electronic account.
Guardian: An individual who is authorized under applicable State or local law to consent on behalf of a child to general medical care.
Human Subject: Law to consent on behalf of a child to general medical care.
Illicit drugs: Drugs which are illegal by state or federal law.
Incidental use of College resources: Normal use of office space and facilities generally available to all College employees, such as libraries, computers, equipment, and support staff and does not (1) involve the procurement of special supplies, services, equipment, or other support by the College; (2) constitute more than ten percent (10%) of the normal duty time of any administrator or classified employee in any semester; (3) involve released or reassigned time; (4) demand more than 20% of the normal work hours of assisting College employees in any semester. Incidental resources that are available to employees generally should not be counted in the assessment of the use of College resources or general funds.
Inclement weather: Weather that is normally considered to be related to snow or ice storms, but may include extreme cold temperatures or weather warnings for hurricane or tornado activity.
Individual: A person for whom the College collects PII.
Information technology (IT) resources: Resources that include, but are not limited to, telephones, mobile devices, computers, printers, scanners, servers, networking devices, public access computers, and licensed software and services. These resources are often involved in the processing, storage, accessing, and transmission of data owned by, controlled by, or contracted to the College.
Information technology (IT) users: Anyone accessing College information technology resources.
Informed consent: Living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains data: 1. Data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or identifiable 2. Identifiable information including personally identifiable information. (see the College Protection of Personally Identifiable Information Policy and Procedures).
Intellectual property: The product of creative or scholarly efforts, whether or not protected by patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret laws, contract, or agreement. Expressions of original ideas, objects, data, applications, and processes are considered to be intellectual property. Expressions could include written material, spoken descriptions, models, sketches, musical scores (including any accompanying words), sculptures, software code and programs (and related manuals and/or documentation), websites or web pages, audiovisual works, architectural works, dramatic works (including any accompanying music), pantomimes and choreographic works, and paintings. Such property includes, but is not limited to, inventions, goods, materials, course material, lab manuals, instruments, equipment, biological organisms, chemical compositions, mask works, computer software, graphics, literary and musical works, and trademarks. The intellectual property may be in tangible or intangible form. Intellectual property in tangible form may be physically distributed. Intellectual property may be protected by one or more of the following: patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, contract, or agreement.
Internal College Meetings and Events: Meetings or events that are organized and conducted by College faculty, staff, trustees, or students for College activities/business.
Invention: An invention, which may or may not be patentable, and is: (1) a new design, for a product or device; (2) a new process, sequence, or methodology; or (3) a new use or application of a product, device, process, sequence, or methodology. An invention may also be an improvement of any of these three.
Letter(s) of Recognition: A program of study available in selected programs and requiring fewer, more specialized courses than a Certificate.
Major: A student’s chosen field of study, which requires the successful completion of a specified number of credit hours and coursework requirements as defined in the Academic Catalog.
Minimal risk: The probability that anticipated the magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research is nonot greater in and of themselves than what isthose ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.
Mottos and taglines: Specific phrases associated with the brand of the College, as defined in this policy.
Naloxone: A prescription medicine (Narcan, Evzio, or its equivalent generic) that reverses opioid overdose.
Name: “Frederick Community College” or “FCC," and also includes the names of any subunits of the College listed in this policy.
Non-grade based complaint: Any complaint not directly related to the assigning of a final class grade.
Non-permanent records: Public records with temporary value which may be disposed of after the passage of a specified period of time. Disposal criteria must be specified in a records retention and disposal Archivist. Examples of non-permanent records include personnel records and timesheets, purchase orders, agency reference copies of State laws and publications, agency reference copies of legislative audits, and draft agendas and unofficial minutes of meetings.
Non-Public Personal Information (NPI): Which is (i) provided by a customer, to the College, (ii) provided by another financial institution, to the College, (iii) otherwise obtained forby the College for the purpose of offering a financial product or service, or (iv) FERPA-protected data.
Open Admissions: An admissions model in which the institution provides broad access consistent with mission, while still enforcing readiness, program-specific requirements, and safety standards.
Operating reserve: The net cash position of the Operating Fund at the end of a month, including any otherwise unencumbered cash, cash equivalents and liquid investments of the Operating Fund.
Operating reserves: Amounts that are available for general use.
Opioid: Synthetic substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects.
Parent: A child’s biological, step, or adoptive parent.
Patent: Any work recognized by a national patent office to have been created or invented by the bearer of the patent, alongside the rights and protections granted by ownership of the patent.
Periodic compliance checks: Unscheduled inspections conducted by the appropriate Senior Leader to examine whether safeguards are adequately protecting PII.
Permanent records: Public records which have been appraised by law, statute, rule, agency personnel and/or the State Archivist as having ongoing administrative, fiscal, legal, historical or other archival value. Permanent records must be transferred to the State. Archives for preservation and permanent retention. Examples of permanent records include, but are not limited to: official correspondence that serves to document the origins, history, and accomplishments of an agency, agendas and minutes of official meetings, books of final entry and general ledgers, and external audits of the agency. An agency’s retention schedule should (1) identify which records are permanent and (2) state how long permanent records need to be maintained at the originating agency prior to transfer to the Archives. Records designated as permanent are permanent in any form or format.
Personal electronic account: Any account created outside a student’s engagement with the College through an online medium or service that allows users to create, share, or view user-generated content. This does not include an electronic account that is opened on behalf of, owned, or provided by the College in support of instruction or co-curricular activities.
Program of Study: A defined sequence of courses leading to an academic or workforce credential offered by the College.
Prospective Student: An individual who has become a part of the College recruitment database who has been assigned an FCC student identification number.
Public access computer: Computers provided for public use.
Public record: Any documentary material in any form created or received by the College in connection with the transaction of public business; and includes: 1. Written materials, email, books, photographs, photocopies, publications, forms, microfilms, tapes, computerized records, maps, drawings, and other materials in any format; and 2. Data generated, stored, received, or communicated by electronic means for use by, or storage in, an information system or for transmission from one information system to another.
Public/Community Use: Paid use of College facilities by individuals, organizations, associations, or businesses not affiliated with Frederick Community College.
Record: Any educational information or data recorded in any medium.
Records officers: The executive staff designated by the President to serve as liaison to the State Archives and oversee the records retention program, in accordance with Section 10-610 of the State Government Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, to serve as liaison to the State Archives and oversee the records retention program.
Red Flags Rule: A federal regulation issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of the implementation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction (FACT) Act of 2003. The Red Flags Rule requires financial institutions to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program and to provide for the continued administration of this Identity Theft Prevention Program.
Residency: A student’s domicile at the time of application.
Retroactive Withdrawal: A student-initiated request to the Admissions and Academic Policies Committee to withdraw from a course after the Withdrawal Period.
Sanctions: Penalties imposed on students who are found responsible for violating the Code of Student Conduct, intended to educate and rehabilitate the student and ensure community safety.
Seal: The authoritative mark of the College used on official College communications.
Service Provider: Any external entity that receives, stores or processes NPI on behalf of the College.
Short Term Leave of Absence: An institutionally approved period of absence from a course, lasting no longer than twenty percent of the length of a course or session. A recovery plan approved by the faculty member and department chair will be created to provide the student with the opportunity to make up all missing work, including assessments.
Strategic reserve: Cash, cash equivalents, and liquid investments segregated into one or more custodial accounts, designated by the President for a future use on one-time expenses or projects that are not able to be accommodated in any one operating budget yearpurpose.
Student: An individual who is registered for coursework at the College.
Student Athlete: A student who is considered full-time (registered for at least twelve 12 credits) while being included on an active roster or as a red shirt for any competitive National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA-)-sanctioned sport sponsored by the College.
Student Work: Work that is prepared by an FCC student.
Surveillance Center: An area under control of the Director of College Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness in which live video footage/data from cameras can be monitored, and recorded video can be viewed.
Syllabus: The official course document that communicates course expectations, requirements, and instructional framework, including learning outcomes, evaluation criteria, and applicable course or institutional policies.
Systems: Software applications, software platforms, computers, and/or devices. (e.g. PeopleSoft, Blackboard, Lumens, Office 365).
Temporary video cameras: Cameras that are not permanently installed by the College and can be temporarily deployed by designated Security personnel with appropriate authorization.
Tobacco: Any tobacco-derived or tobacco-simulating products, including, but not limited to: cigarettes, (clove, bidis, kreteks), electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, cigars and cigarillos, pipe tobacco, hookah smoked products, and oral tobacco. (spit and spitless, smokeless, chew, snuff).
Trade Secret: Any information, including, but not limited to, a formula, pattern, compilation, computer software, data, device, method, technique, process, or application that: (1) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (2) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable efforts, under existing circumstances, to maintain its secrecy.
Trademark: Any symbol or combination of symbols which serve to identify the commercial source of items marked by the symbol.
Unit: A description on the Records Retention and Disposal Schedule provided by the Maryland State Records Management Division to describe a specific department or functional area. For example, a unit on the Finance Team would be Payroll.
Video media: Digital camera images obtained and recorded as digital files.
Visitor/guest: Any person who is not a member of the College community who is on College premises.
Volunteer: Individuals who are not members of the College community, but have had background checks and have been officially approved to serve as volunteers at the College.
Vulnerable populations: Human subjects who are likely to be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence and require special treatment with respect to safeguards of their well-being. Populations of students and/or employees may be vulnerable as determined by the IRB. Other examples of vulnerable populations include children, cognitively impaired persons, incarcerated or formerly incarcerated persons, and educationally disadvantaged individuals.
Withdrawal: A non-punitive grade process initiated by a student when a class is dropped after the published 100% refund period but before the published last day to withdraw.
Withdrawal period: The period students can withdraw from a credit course. This period occurs after the Add/Drop period and concludes on a specific date as published in the Schedule of Classes.
Workforce Training Certificate: A non-credit course or series of courses that qualifies individuals for identifiable occupations, or that provides a comprehensive body of knowledge leading to career advancement. These specialized courses may not be substituted.
Work for Hire: Copyrightable intellectual property deliverable to FCC, prepared by an employee within the scope of employment or produced as a special order or commission.
Workdays: Monday through Friday and does not include weekends, holidays, scheduled breaks, or other days the College is closed.
Years of Service: Employment at the College as a regular full-time or regular part-time employee working 50% or greater. Years of service begins upon assignment to a regular position at the College. Service in interim, part-time variable schedule (PTVS), limited term, adjunct, clinical field experience, or fee-based positions are not eligible for years of service. Employees who separate from regular full-time or regular part-time employment and return to an eligible position within three years from the date of separation shall receive full credit for prior eligible service.

Last Revised: June 1, 2026